My Dragon
by PrincessOfIllFate
Summary: Ginny Weasley's life has been going through changes. From the sudden realization that she'll never win over Harry, to her new attraction of someone else, how will she be able to cope with the return of a dark figure from her past? D/G with HG/R
1. The Mistake

Chapter 1 The Mistake  
  
Ginny's eyes shot open as she felt Pig's sharp talons pinch into her shoulder.  
  
"Alright, okay! I'll get you some food!" she said as she lazily pulled herself out of bed. As she looked through her clothes to get something to wear she wiped the blood off of the fresh cuts on her shoulder.  
  
"RON! Come get your stupid owl!" Ginny yelled as Pig began to attack her. Running out of her room in just a shirt and a pair of boxers, she collided with another person.  
  
"Woah! Ginny! Slow down!" laughed the familiar voice. Too familiar.  
  
"Harry! Since when did you get here?" asked an embarrassed Ginny as she reached a hand to her disheveled hair.  
  
"Hermione and I got here earlier this morning; your mom told us not to wake you," he laughed, "You look great!" he teased.  
  
"Oh, shut up!" she said as she hit him, "Do me a favor and grab Pig? he wont stop attacking me!" Ginny begged, and Harry did so. Shooing Harry out of her room, she slipped into a pair of jeans and a Chudley Cannons Quidditch tank top that Ron had gotten her for her fifteenth birthday. Reaching the bottom of the stairs she saw Ron and Hermione flirting carelessly with each other in the corner, and Harry was being made the twins' guinea pig with their newest invention; Tongue Tying Taffy. Tip-toeing silently behind Harry's back, Ginny jumped up onto him.  
  
"Woah! Hey!" Harry said as he gripped her legs to support her wieght.  
  
"Come on! I'm taking you hostage! Let's go outside!" Ginny said, and Harry carried her out of the door. It was amazing how muscular playing Quidditch makes you Ginny realized as she clutched Harry's shoulders. When they were out in the tree filled area behind the house, Harry set her down on the ground.  
  
"So, how does it feel being fifteen?" Harry asked her as they walked deeper into the trees.   
  
"It's great! I'm older, and I definitely LOOK older!" she said as she looked down at herself, " And Ron got me something that I'd actually wear for once!" she said as she motioned to the tank top.  
  
"It's cute!" he said, and then he handed her a small box with animated Snitch wrapping paper, "Happy birthday," he said. Ginny took it into her hands, letting her bright red hair skim her cheeks. She opened the box and pulled out a long, silver chain with 'Ginny' inscribed into it. When her skin touched the letters it glew red. Her eyes sparkled and she lifted her hair and put the necklace on.  
  
"It glows red when you're happy or content, but if your sad or mad it grows green. I had it custom made, he added, unsure by her lack of reaction if she liked it or not until she pounced on him.  
  
"I love it! Thanks Harry!" she said, pressing up against him as she hugged him.  
  
"Don't mention it! Well, we better head back before anyone starts to worry!" Harry coughed, and Ginny grabbed onto Harry's arm and lead him into the house.  
  
"There you guys are!" Ron said, relieved, but became angrily suspicious, " And just what were you doing?" he asked.  
  
"No, it wasn't like that Ron! I only wanted to give her her birthday present," Harry said.  
  
"Yeah, and you and Hermione looked as if you wanted to be left alone! So basically we did you a favor," Ginny said, and Ron calmed down. It hurt her the way that Harry said point-blank that he wasn't interested in Ginny as a girlfriend. She really like Harry still, but she refused to let that get to her.  
  
  
It was two o'clock in the morning at The Burrow, but Ginny wasn't asleep. Laying on top of her bed in her Gryffindor Pajama's she listened to Ron and Hermione sneaking off to his room together. This made her wonder where Harry was. Deciding that it was too hard to sleep, she put on some shoes and went outside. The moon was extravagant at this time in the morning, and the cool breeze was enough to send chills down anyone's spine. It felt like rain.  
  
"Hey Gin! What are you doing up so late?" she heard Harry ask.  
  
"I couldn't sleep, and Ron and Hermione aren't helping, either," Ginny added. A few specs of water hit her face.  
  
"Feels like it's going to rain," Harry said as it began to rain harder, making Ginny laugh. "let's get you inside. You don't want to get sick ," Harry said, but Ginny spun around in the rain, getting soaked.  
  
"I love the rain!" she laughed as more and more water hit her face. As she slowed down she began to get cold, causing Harry to get closer to her.  
  
"You're cold, you really should get inside!" Harry said as he placed his hands on her shoulders. Ginny just smiled, "What?" Harry asked.  
  
"Nothing! It's just that you're so cute when you're worried," Ginny said, and then it happened. Harry began to kiss her. It was polite at first, until they noticed that neither of them were going to pull away, and then it became more passionate. Harry started to lay Ginny down in the wet grass, rain falling all around them, and they began kissing while rolling around in the mud. Ginny, landing on top, began to lift her shirt up slowly, but Harry's hands landed on hers and he pulled them down, getting up from the ground.  
  
"Who are we kidding? I mean, we can't do this, you're Ron's little sister!" Harry said as he helped Ginny up. the romance was gone. Now all that was left was the rain and the mud.  
  
"Right! Ron's little sister. Can't do this," and she walked up into her room without looking back. 


	2. The Girl

Chapter 2 The Girl  
  
After that night, Ginny had been trying her best to not be with Harry alone. She was unsure how she could've let her guard drop like that, but with Harry she couldn't think straight, so she was happy when her parents dropped them off at King's Cross.  
  
" We'll go get us a compartment!" Hermione said, grabbing a hold of Ron's wrist, leaving Ginny with Harry.  
  
" I think I'll go with them," started Ginny, and she began to walk off, but Harry grabbed her hand.  
  
" Gin, come here. I'm sorry for leading you on like that, I just got caught up in the moment, and you looked so much like Cho! I'm so sorry," he added, and he kissed her forehead.  
  
" Right! Yeah! Okay!" she said, and they continued into the compartment together. Ron and Hermione sat across from each other, and Harry took a seat next to Ron. Putting her trunk in the compartment, she sat down and listened to the conversation the trio was having. Standing up, she walked out of the compartment.  
  
" Well, Well, Well. If it isn't the little weasel," Ginny heard Draco say to her.  
  
" Hey, Malfoy! I missed you, too!" Ginny said sarcastically, "Where's Crabbe and Goyle?" she asked, noticing that his cronies weren't with him. " Those idiots fell asleep!" he said glancing at her compartment, "Aww! Is it too painful to be around your love when he doesn't love you?" teased Malfoy.  
  
" Piss off!" Ginny shot back. She wasn't in the mood for Malfoy just now.  
  
" OOH! Did I offend Ms. Weasley?" Draco laughed which got Ginny angry, "There's the Ginny I love to see!" Draco said, and he pushed passed her. Ginny hated it when Draco was right. Sighing, she walked back into the compartment where she found Harry making out with Cho.  
  
" I'll just go find another compartment," Ginny said, and she walked out of the door. Spotting the Food Cart Lady, she asked for any available compartments.  
  
"Just the one," and she led Ginny towards the back. When they arrived at a compartment, the lady told the people inside that a girl had to ride with them for the rest of the way. "Go on in, dear!" said the lady, and she carted off without a look backwards. Looking behind her, she opened the door and walked in, not looking at the people who were in there.  
  
" Well, it's Ginny who wishes to join us? How exciting," she heard Draco say.  
  
" I didn't CHOOSE to sit here, all the others were full," she said, " It's not like I have a choice, so you leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone," she said, and she sat in a seat as far away from them as possible and began to read. Malfoy and his gang carried on as if Ginny wasn't there and criticized everyone -including Ginny- without a care in the world. Trying hard not to doze off, Ginny pulled out a clean sheet of white drawing paper and started to trace the compartment that she was in. Looking up every now and then from her paper, she delicately traced the outline of the three slytherin boys gossiping carelessly together.  
  
" Excuse me? Did you just hear a word I said?" Draco asked, causing Ginny to break her lead.  
  
" I'm sorry, but what?" Ginny asked, putting her drawing in a book at her feet.  
  
" I said you need to leave for a minute so that we can change into our uniforms," he answered. Ginny stepped outside the door and waited until she was allowed back in.  
  
" You're turn, boys!" Ginny said, and she shoed them out of the compartment so that she could change into her Hogwarts uniform and let the boys back in the compartment.  
  
" Wow! Thanks for taking over our compartment!" Crabbe said, failing to come up with a smart come back.  
  
" You moron!" Draco said, slapping Crabbe upside the head. Ginny laughed at Crabbe's clueless-ness. At that moment the train came to a stop.  
  
" Thanks for not forcing me out of your compartment, boys!" Ginny said, and she grabbed her stuff and headed out of the compartment.  
  
" Firs' years righ' this way!" boomed the familiar voice of Hagrid. Ginny smiled as she looked at the curious faces of the first year students. Getting into her carriage, she waited for Neville, and Seamus to join her, and they went off towards the castle.  
  
" Children, run inside before it begins to rain!" Professor McGonagall said to all of the arriving students. In a hurry to stay dry, Ginny ran up the stone steps of Hogwarts and ran inside of the castle. Just as she entered she heard the soft pitter-patter of fresh raindrops hit the castle grounds. Sighing, she tried to push her last memory of rain far from her mind, and took a seat next to Parvati at the Gryffindor table. Students filed in faster and Ginny scooted over to make room for more Gryffindors.  
  
" Have you heard? Harry and Cho are a couple now~ Isn't it cute?" Parvati said to Ginny.  
  
" Sure, if you think being second best is good enough for Harry," Ginny replied, looking towards Harry.  
  
" What's that supposed to mean, Gin?" Parvati asked, following Ginny's gaze to Harry. " All I'm saying is that one year Cho is too good for Harry, and then the next..." her voice trailed off.  
  
" I get your point!" Parvati said, and she diverted her attention to the sorting. Ginny looked at all of the first years waiting to be sorted, and became enthralled by one of them. The girl was the only one in the bunch who seemed at all mature, and Ginny suddenly felt the need to draw her. Taking out a clean sheet of paper and a pencil, she studied the girl. She wished she had color, for it would be the only way to capture the crystal blue of the child's serious eyes, or the flaming red of the girls long, tamed hair. Just as she finished the rough outline of the girl she heard "Wolfe, Jasmine" be called, and the girl she sketched stepped forward with such an amount of grace, and she took a seat on the Sorting stool. Becoming absorbed with a sudden interest in the girl, Ginny sat up, waiting to hear the shout of her house.  
  
" Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat called out, Ginny watched the girl walk expressionlessly to the Slytherin table without glancing away. When Jasmine took her seat she looked directly at Ginny, causing Ginny to blink and look away. She hadn't meant to stare, it was just that something about the girl seemed very familiar to Ginny. Ginny looked down at the picture of the girl she drew, and studied those intense eyes. As the food filled the plates, Ginny's goblet tipped over and the Pumpkin Juice spilled all over the picture of Jasmine. Stunned, Ginny looked over at Jasmine who was still watching Ginny. The look in that girl's eyes was terrifying, and Ginny decided to leave the Great Hall earlier than she expected.  
  
  
  
" Gin, get up!" said Parvati. Ginny opened her eyes and got out of bed, slipping into her robes as she did so. Before going down into the Common Room, Ginny looked at the picture of the girl she drew and breathed a sigh of relief. Though the picture had orange spots all over it, she could still make out the girl's face enough to re-draw it accurately. Putting it in her bag, she headed out to The Great Hall.  
  
" Hey Gin, come sit with us!" Ginny heard Hermione say. Ginny did so, but all she did was eat, and study that girl Jasmine, in the most studious way. She couldn't help it, something about that girl reminded her of someone, she just couldn't figure out who. It was then that she noticed that Jasmine had been hanging around Draco, even thought Draco didn't seem happy by it. Before realizing that she had dozed off, she noticed that she had been staring at Draco, and that he was now looking back at her. Feeling embarrassed, she excused herself early, and walked out into one of the passages and leaned against the stone wall.  
  
" Weasley, why so interested in the Slytherins?" Draco asked her.  
  
" That girl, the new girl, Jasmine, who is she?" Ginny asked without remorse.  
  
" Jasmine Wolfe? The first year?" he asked, sounding irritated. Ginny nodded, " She's my cousin," Ginny froze inside, but didn't let it show.  
  
" How, lucky," she said, trying to find the right words.  
  
" Lucky? RIGHT! She's so annoying, and young, and, UGH!" he said, and then he smiled. " Actually, Ginny, she reminds me of you at that age," he said, and he walked off. At that moment it felt like a weight had been lifted off of her, or that her mind had ben relieved of its burden. Malfoy had helped her without even noticing it. Breathing a sigh of relief, she grabbed her potions book and walked away. 


	3. The Strange Occurence

Chapter 3 The Strange Occurrence  
Ginny had stopped obsessing over Jasmine Wolfe, but she still drew the girl's eyes. There was something in those eyes that was far beyond normal, but she had pushed that all aside. Putting her bag down on her bed, she headed downstairs to catch up with Colin Creevey.  
  
"Decided to come to the game, then, Ginny?" Colin asked as he adjusted the shoulder strap on his camera.  
  
"Well, I do feel like doing some more sketching, so yeah! I'll go," she said, and they headed out to the Quidditch Field.   
  
"Who's playing?" Colin asked as he played around with all of the knobs that were on his camera.  
  
"Slytherin against Ravenclaw," Ginny answered while applying a water-dispelling charm on her paper.  
  
"So, basically, Draco against Cho?" Colin asked her.  
  
"Go Draco," Ginny muttered under her breath, and they got seats in the top of the Gryffindor box. As she sat down someone offered them some Ravenclaw flags, " Sorry, my hands are gonna be full!" Ginny said, and she pulled out a pencil and her paper to be a reason for why she couldn't hold on to a Ravenclaw flag.  
  
"Hey Gin, scoot over will you?" Ginny heard her brother say. To her disappointment Harry, Ron and Hermione were all three heading their way. She noticed that Harry was sporting a Ravenclaw flag.  
  
"Hiya Harry!" Colin said in his usual anxious tone, but Ginny gave him a dirty look which told him to stop.   
  
"Hey Colin," Harry answered back, taking the seat right next to Ginny. She shifted uncomfortably and then put away the ugly caricature of Cho she was drawing before he could see it.   
  
"Hey Ginny," Harry said awkwardly. She hated the way her name rolled off of his tongue, it was almost as if he felt that he owed her some sort of penance for something.  
  
"Oh, hey, Harry" she said, allowing his name to roll emotionlessly but efficiently out of her mouth. She didn't feel in the mood to talk to him. They didn't speak after that, for the game had begun, and Ginny had started to sketch the scene.  
  
In the Final round, Ravenclaw was leading fifty to thirty, and Ginny was fuming! She had been hoping throughout the whole game that somehow Cho would fall off her broom and become horribly disfigured.  
  
"Cho's seen the snitch!" Ginny heard the announcer say. She sat erect, pencil in hand. She didn't want to miss this one, it would be a close call. At this point, anyone could win, and that's when it happened. "Ooh! Nasty! Cho's just been hit in the arm by a Bludger! That's got to be broken!" Ginny smiled to herself as Draco dived for the snitch. "Draco Malfoy has caught the snitch! 150 points to Slytherin! Slytherin wins the game!" Ginny jumped up to cheer, but, with a look at all of the people around her, she sat back down and cheered silently to herself. She grabbed Colin's camera from him, much to his dismay, and snapped wildly at the Malfoy and then at Cho. Collecting the Polaroids, she thanked Colin and headed out towards the Library. Taking a seat, she looked at the pictures of the two seekers she had taken, and decided to choose only on of each. For Cho, she chose the one that seemed to make her look the most pitiful, and for Draco she chose the one that he looked so happy, alive, and it seemed as if you could look right into his soul. She began to Draw as she looked at the two pictures. She sketched on, not caring about the failing light. She was sure that this would be a drawing that she never quite finished; one that would always look as if it were a rough black and white copy, but she didn't care. She liked the way it turned out.  
  
"Well, Well, Well, Weasley, do I run into you everywhere now? I think I have a stalker from the Weasley family," Ginny heard Draco say from behind her. Closing the book that she was drawing in, she turned.  
  
"Hello, Malfoy," she said, "Don't be too full of yourself, I'm not stalking you," she said to him, but his eyes were on the pictures of him and Cho on the table.  
  
"Not stalking me, huh, Weasley?" he said as he picked up three of the eight pictures that he could see of himself that Ginny had scattered across the table. "Then why the many Polaroids?" he smirked as Ginny's ears turned slightly pink.  
  
"For your information I happen to be drawing the ending of this Quidditch game," she said as she snatched the Polaroids back from him. He looked down at the table and effortlessly got the drawing away from Ginny.  
  
"That's a rather horrible picture of Cho you drew, do I sense some jealousy?" he teased. He knew as well as everyone else that Ginny had always been deeply smitten by Harry.  
  
"No! I'm so over that!" that she yelled at him, causing him to laugh a bit. He handed her the drawing back and turned to leave the library. Ginny plopped back down onto her chair and blew her air out of her lungs angrily. Did Draco always get on her nerves this much? She decided that it would be best if she didn't answer that question. Her eyes finally flickered up from her sketch to look out the window, causing her to realize how late it was getting. It hadn't even struck her how exhausted she was until that moment. Putting her drawing inside one of her books, she collected all of the pictures she had taken and left the library.  
  
"Forget about him. He doesn't really mean anything to you. Someone else does," Ginny turned around to find herself face to face with Jasmine. Shocked, she dropped her books to the ground, scattering the pictures she had taken at the Quidditch game. Jasmine picked up all of the pictures of Draco and handed them to her, curiously leaving the ones of Cho still on the ground for Ginny to pick up. When Ginny stood back up from the ground Jasmine was gone. Shocked, Ginny decided to head back to the dorm where she could sleep on the strange thing that Jasmine had said and done for her. 


	4. The Most Unusual Punishment

Chapter 4 The Most Unusual Punishment  
  
"Um, Gin?" Ginny jumped suddenly as if she had just been awoken from a nightmare. Looking down at her paper she noticed that she had been tracing and retracing the same line on her picture for the past hour. It had been a few months since her meeting with Jasmine Wolfe, and she had already pushed it out of her mind. Sighing, she discarded the page and pulled out a clean sheet of paper. "What's wrong?" Lavender asked her as she took a seat next to Ginny.  
  
"Nothing! What makes you think that?" Ginny answered quickly with a glance over in Cho and Harry's direction. The sight of the two of them made her want to gag, but unfortunately she had never actually acted on that impulse.  
  
"Really, now?" Lavender asked her as she picked up the new sheet of paper that Ginny had just written the words "Die, Cho, Die!" on.  
  
"Oh. Must have picked up on some, erm, automatic writing! I've been practicing it, you know," Ginny lamely added, trying to save herself from more embarrassment. It was one thing to have Draco to call her jealous, but one of her friends would be pure torture.  
  
"You truly are your brother's sister," Lavender laughed as she handed Ginny back her paper, "But you know, Harry is truly smitten. There's no way you can get between the two of them, Gin. You of all people should know that," Ginny looked at Lavender with pleading eyes.  
  
"I know, but, it hurts. One minute he's kissing me, and then the next he's going out with Cho!" Ginny whispered. Clasping a hand to her mouth, she begged to herself that the last comment went unheard by Lavender.  
  
"WHAT?" Lavender said loudly, causing Ginny to bit her lower lip and fidget with her hands. She couldn't believe that she had actually told somebody the one thing that she didn't want anybody to know.  
  
"Okay, Lavender. You are the only person who knows that fact, and I would really appreciate it if we could keep it between the two of us," Ginny pleaded.  
  
"Of course, Gin. I can't believe Harry would do something like that to you, though," Lavender said in disbelief.  
  
"What, you can't believe that he'd kiss Ron Weasley's poor little sister? Or you can't believe he'd blow me off right after the kiss happened?" Ginny asked angrily, trying to keep her voice low.  
  
"I can't believe he'd blow you off like that, Ginny! It's just so un-Harry-like, that's all," Lavender explained. Ginny began to put her books into her bag and stood up.  
  
"Oh, okay. Well if you'll excuse me, I need to get myself to Defense Against the Dark Arts which my grades are lacking in before I'm late," Ginny said rather reproachfully and she turned and began to walk towards class. As she passed by some of the ghosts of Hogwarts she kept receiving encouraging words of advice about the whole Harry-Cho situation, but she tried her best to ignore it.  
  
"You're late, Weasley," said a voice that came from behind her. She turned around to face Draco.  
  
"You know what, Draco? I'm starting to believe that it's actually you who stalks me," Ginny greeted. He smirked.  
  
"As thrilling as that notion may be, I happen to be the new TA in this class," Draco answered matter-of-factly, causing Ginny to snort with laughter.  
  
"YOU? A TA? Right.." Ginny laughed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Draco slicked his hair back.  
  
"Laugh it up, Ginny, but once you're in that classroom your fate might easily lay in my hands," he teased as he held open the door for her. She slipped into the classroom, hoping that she would be unnoticed.  
  
"You're late again, Ms. Weasley," Professor Perry, their newest Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, added. Ginny sighed. It seemed as if that man had eyes in the back of his head.  
  
"Sorry again, Professor," Ginny added in an exasperated tone and she watched Malfoy silently laugh at her.  
  
"I'll as you to stay back after class so that I may speak with you. You too, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Perry added, and then he went back to his daily lesson. Ginny hadn't felt more embarrassed in her life than she had at this point. Never, in her life, had she wanted to be scolded in front of the likes of Draco Malfoy, and yet it had just happened. She pulled out her books and, making sure nobody was paying attention to her, casually slipped a piece of plain white paper into one of them so that she could draw without bringing unnecessary attention to herself. Ginny's eyelids began to droop as the class dragged on.  
  
"Ginny, you'd better wake up before Malfoy decides to make you the center of a very embarrassing situation," Ginny heard her friend Mariesii say to her. Ginny's eyes flew open and she lifted her head off of her desk, wiping the drool that was dripping down her cheek. She looked at the picture perfect bobcat that she was drawing and noticed the big wet spot that sapped through the center of it. Frowning, she crumpled it up and placed it in her bag. She pulled out a new piece of white paper, but didn't begin to draw on it. Instead she watched as Mariesii and the rest of the class left the room. Had she really been asleep for that long? She couldn't tell.  
  
"Ms. Weasley, could you come up here for a second," Professor Perry said suddenly as he set his plans for the next class down on his desk.  
  
"Yes Professor?" Ginny asked curiously, trying to pretend that she had no clue what this meeting was to be about.  
  
"I've noticed some lacking in your grades, and not just for this school year, but last year also. In fact, looking back in your records I can see that you've never done quite well in this class," Professor Perry said as he picked up the file with her past grades in it to show her. She didn't look at it. "Only, it seems that lately you've been doing even more poorly than before," he added.  
  
"I'm really sorry, Professor. I have a lot on my mind lately, and I just don't know how to pull myself out of this slum," she said in a vulnerable tone.  
  
"Well, fortunately for you, I've come up with a plan to help you bring your grades up. In a month I'm going to give you a test. If you can pass this test by receiving an A, I will pass you for this semester. However, if you get anything lower than that grade I must fail you," Ginny's heart fell. She knew that she couldn't possibly pull it off.  
  
"But where am I going to learn all of the material that I will need to learn by then?" Ginny asked, a sound of anger becoming apparent in her voice.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, will you come here for a second?" Professor Perry called to him. Draco made his way to the front of the room, a questioning look on his face. Ginny's face turned a slight shade of pink.  
  
"Yes Professor?" he asked as he looked back and forth between him and Ginny. Ginny did her best to cast her eyes away from Draco.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy here has one of the top grades in my lass right now, and that's why I chose him to be my TA," he said. Ginny crossed her arms in front of her.  
  
"And your point would be?" Ginny said as if she had no clue what he was about to ask her. Her tone was full of attitude.  
  
"The reason I asked Mr. Malfoy to be my TA was merely to have him help you learn all of what you will need to know to pass this class," Professor Perry explained to the two of them. Ginny looked at Draco as if it was the end of the world.  
  
"You can't be serious!" the two of them yelled together, causing the Professor to laugh. Ginny felt like screaming.  
  
"Oh, but I am. I expect you two in this classroom three nights a week for the next four weeks or else her both of you will fail my class," laughed Professor Perry as he exited his classroom.  
  
"He can't be serious!" Draco yelled, flipping over one of the desks that sat idly at the front of the classroom.  
  
"I'm pretty sure that he is," whined Ginny as she plopped herself down in one of the chairs and kicked at the ground.  
  
"It had to be you!" Draco laughed as he put the desk he had just tipped over back into it's proper place.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked resentfully. She hadn't realized that any part of this was her fault.  
  
"I knew that I was going to be tutoring one of the idiots in this class, but I wasn't aware that it was going to be the little Weasel, nor was I aware that if I didn't cooperate I'd be failed out of my best class!" he yelled. Ginny frowned, realizing that it was pretty much her fault.  
  
"I don't enjoy this any more than you do, Malfoy, but I also am in dire need of help in passing this class. It seems as if you are in this same position now, also, so why don't we just set a schedule and do what Professor Perry asked?" Ginny said as she pulled out a sheet of paper to write down the plan, but Draco began walking towards the door to exit the classroom.  
  
"You write your own damn schedule, Weasley. I'm leaving," he said and he exited the room. Ginny punched her fist against the table. Sighing, she put her stuff into her bag and walked her way towards her next class, trying to block out the fact that she might very well be failed out of Defense Against the Dark Arts.  
  
  
"He WHAT?" Mariesii shouted at Ginny who had just told her about Professor Perry's plan on passing her through his class.  
  
"You heard me, Mariesii. He's making me work with Malfoy, or else we'll both fail the class, but I'm screwed either way because if I don't get an A on the test I'll fail anyway!" she groaned as she laid her head in her hands. Mariesii began to laugh. "What?" Ginny asked, wondering what Mariesii found to be so amusing.  
  
"Nothing. It's just, you and Malfoy, working together. Virginia Weasley and Draco Malfoy. It has this sort of ring to it, you know?" she teased.  
  
"No, I DON'T know. Nor do I want to! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go up to the dorm!" she said, both looking and sounding flustered. Still, Mariesii couldn't help but notice that Ginny's cheeks had gone a bit pink. Turning a corner sharply, she collided with another person.  
  
"Ginny. Hey," Harry said to her as he bent over to help her collect her items that had been spilled all over the floor.  
  
"I can get it myself, Harry," she said a bit coldly as she snatched her items out of his hands and quickly began to pick the rest of it up.  
  
"Is something the matter?" he asked her. She smiled and shook her head at him as she put her items back into her bag.  
  
"No, nothing. I'm fine. Great. Wonderful! Now, if you'll excuse me," she said, and she began to try and rush away from him, but he grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back to him. She found her back to be vulnerably against a wall.  
  
"You don't sound wonderful, Gin. You sound a bit angry, even," he said. She faced her head to the ground.  
  
"I told you that I was fine," she was trying to convince herself of that fact just as much as she was trying to convince him. His palm seemed to scorch into her flesh.  
  
"Are you sure?" She looked up at him, and his hand fluttered to the necklace that hung around her neck. It's color was green. "The necklace seems to be giving you away," Harry laughed, which caused Ginny to smile. His head seemed to be moving closer to hers. Her heart fluttered as his lips came so close to hers that she could feel his soft breath pound at the entrance of her small lips.  
  
"Weasley, I've been looking all over for you," she heard someone call. Harry guiltily pulled away from her.  
  
"What is it this time, Malfoy?" Ginny said as she brought her fingers up and began to rub them against her bottom lip. Draco looked suspiciously back and forth between Harry and Ginny.  
  
"I seem to recall a certain Professor telling us that our grades relied on this certain meeting that needs to be arranged for three nights a week. I'm sure you can help Potter, here, cheat on Cho some other.." mocked Draco.  
  
"I wasn't cheating on Cho! Cho's the only girl I have any interest in what-so-ever. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll just take this book that I needed from Ginny and leave," Harry said guiltily as he grabbed Ginny's Charms book and walked quickly away from the two of them.  
  
"So, where were we?" he asked her. Ginny was angered to the point of tears. On the one hand the boy that she had so often thought about seemed to be returning her feelings, and yet he so openly refused her.  
  
"You're such a jerk, Draco," Ginny said as she began to walk away from him. She felt like she needed to be alone. She didn't want to hear any of Draco's crude remarks at the moment.  
  
"What? Did you really think that Potter over there really has any interest in you? I don't think so! All he is doing is making sure that just because he has his 'girl' now doesn't mean that he isn't still being obsessed over!" Draco said harshly.  
  
"Shut up, Malfoy. You don't understand one thing about Harry or myself!" Ginny yelled as she clenched her firsts at her sides.  
  
"Really? I don't? Then what's that?" Draco asked as he pointed ahead of the two of them. Ginny couldn't believe what she was watching. Harry and Cho were kissing each other as if Harry hadn't just tried to kiss Ginny.  
  
"We can meet in Professor Perry's room on Wednesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's. Are you happy now?" Ginny asked as she quickened her pace, trying to get to the Gryffindor Common Room as quickly as possible.  
  
"Great. See you tomorrow," Draco said, pleased that he had caused Ginny some pain for the evening. He turned and made is way in the other direction. Tears began to fall from Ginny's cheeks, but she hoped that no one would notice them.  
  
"Scotched Butter," Ginny gave the password to the portrait of the Fat Lady who swung open her portal with only a sympathetic look in Ginny's direction. She made her way passed the kissing Ron and Hermione without catching either of their attention and ran the rest of the way up the steps and into her room, where she proceeded to cry until she fell asleep.  
  
  
  
"Where you headed, Gin?" Mariesii called to her as Ginny began to leave the Great Hall after dinner. Ginny crossed her arms as she turned to face Mariesii.  
  
"I seem to have a certain, unavoidable meeting with an arch-enemy," Ginny laughed as she continued walking backwards while facing Mariesii still.  
  
"Oh. That's gonna be fun," teased Mariesii. Laughing, Ginny turned around and proceeded to walk faster towards Professor Perry's classroom in hopes that she would beat Draco their and be pinned the punctual one by the Professor. Unfortunately when she got to the classroom, Draco was already sitting there with what seemed like mountains upon mountains of books. Ginny rushed into the classroom.  
  
"Sorry I'm late!" Ginny said suddenly, giving both the Professor and Draco a guilty look as she took a seat at the desk across from Draco.  
  
"I don't remember ever setting an exact time, Ginny," Draco said mockingly, trying to make Ginny sound even more like an idiot. She just smiled.  
  
"I'll be leaving the two of you now, but don't think for even one minute that I wont know how long you'll have been in this classroom after I've left," the Professor warned and he exited the classroom.  
  
"You ready to begin?" Draco asked as he pulled out a pair of silver-framed glasses and slipped them onto his face. Ginny burst out in laughter, causing even Draco's cheeks to appear slightly flushed.  
  
"You? Wear glasses?" mocked Ginny in a disbelieving tone. Draco glared at Ginny through his glasses.  
  
"Yes I have to wear glasses, and I don't think that they are half bad. I find them very Merrill Murten.." started Draco.  
  
"Merrill Murtenheimer....You know who Merrill Murtenheimer is?" Ginny interrupted as she pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts books and placed them on the table next to Draco's.  
  
"Of course I know who Merrill Murtenheimer is! She's only one of the greatest artists of..." started Draco, but once again Ginny interrupted.  
  
"Of all time!!" Ginny said as if it was the most completely obvious thing in the world. "Since when have you been into art, Malfoy?" She asked him suspiciously.  
  
"Since when have you wanted to find out, Ms. Weasley?" Draco asked coldly as he opened one of his books.  
  
"Well excuse me for trying to spark some kind of interesting conversation between us. So sue me," she said as she opened her books also.  
  
"Since I was eleven. I saw her "Dances With Dragons" in a magazine and I was instantly attracted to her work," he admitted, causing Ginny to laugh. It only took another ten minutes before the two of them began to warm up to one another and began to get into a deep and intelligent debate on their favorite artists. It seemed as if they had totally forgotten about Ginny's lack of comprehension of the material in the class, but they continued to talk for about an hour.  
  
"Erm, well, I guess I'd better get going to the Common Room. Thanks for, well, tutoring me Malfoy," Ginny laughed as she realized that they hadn't actually been studying in the first place.  
  
"Yeah, don't mention it. Literally," he added, and he turned and left the room. Ginny didn't understand what he had meant by that last remark, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to. Turning out of the classroom with her books in her hand, she turned to walk towards her room. 


	5. Dances With Dragons and Flaming Hot Pass...

Chapter 5 "Dances With Dragons" and Flaming Hot Passions  
  
"So?"Mariesii asked Ginny expectantly as Ginny finished putting her robes on that morning.  
  
"So what?" Ginny asked, trying to sound completely clueless as to what it was that Mariesii wanted to know.   
  
Last night? You and Malfoy studying? Was it complete torture?" she asked, wanting to know all of the details.  
  
"Actually, no. We had a lot to talk about," Ginny said. Mariesii began to laugh at her, "What?" she asked, causing Mariesii to stop.  
  
"Come on! You and Malfoy had things to talk about? That's a little hard to believe," she noted as she grabbed her bag and began to follow Ginny out of their dorm room.  
  
"Well go on finding that hard to believe if you wish, but it's true," Ginny said frankly as she exited the Gryffindor Common room with Mariesii on her tail. Finally making it to the Great Hall, the two of them went over and took their seats at Gryffindor's table. The food appeared on their plates and they began to eat, but every once in a while Ginny stopped to make a glance over at the Slytherin table.  
  
"Could you be any more obvious, Gin?" Mariesii whispered over to her, causing Ginny to jump and alert her eyes onto Mariesii's face.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked in an embarrassed tone. Her ears and cheeks both turned light shades of pink.  
  
"Your obvious new found infatuation with Draco," she added matter of factly. Ginny muttered for her to keep her voice down.  
  
"I don't know what you are talking about! Now, if you'll excuse me," Ginny said as she got up from the table and exited the Great Hall. She felt a tap on her shoulder, and she spun around.  
  
"Er, hey Ginny. I thought you might like this," Draco said as he handed her a pocket sized version of "Dances With Dragons". Ginny smiled as she took it from him.  
  
"Thank you!" she said happily as she went to give him a hug. He went rigid, and she pulled away.  
  
"Ms. Weasley trying to hug me? That's something you don't see every day," he mocked her. The happiness soon left her face as Draco walked off, leaving her standing there in bewilderment. Sighing, she slipped the picture in her back pocket, only to notice something foreign dwelling in the same place.  
  
"What?" she asked as she pulled the unknown object out of her pocket. It was a picture of Draco that she had taken that night when he won the Quidditch game, but how had it gotten in her pocket? She looked up and watched as Jasmine Wolfe continued off on Draco's path. Jasmine turned around abruptly and faced Ginny.  
  
"Remember," she said, and she turned and continued on walking down the same hall. Frowning, Ginny slipped the Picture of Draco, and the painting Draco had given her into her back pocket and made her way towards her next class.  
  
  
  
"Will you ever be on time, Ms. Weasley?" Professor Perry asked as Ginny Weasley walked into his room. Draco looked up from his new spot that had been arranged in a secluded corner of the room and watched as she walked over to her seat.  
  
"I'm sorry, Professor Perry," she blushed as she looked over in Draco's direction. He smirked as he turned his face back down to the paper that was on his desk. Professor Perry went on with is daily lesson. Draco glanced up again in Ginny's direction. He could see the outline of the painting he had given her in her pocket. He sneered. How could she think that she could hug him just because he gave her a painting? It had no significant meaning. None what so ever! He glanced down suddenly and pretended that he had been working on his paper as Ginny glanced over at him. She actually thought she had the right to look at him? She was so Weasley-like.  
  
"Now I expect you to get to work now. If any of you need help," Professor Perry stated with a look directly at Ginny, "Mr. Malfoy here can instruct you with what to do," he added as he walked over to his own desk and began to work on some of the many piles of paper that cluttered his desk. Ginny's hand floated almost instantly into the air.  
  
  
  
He was staring at her? Why? She kept asking herself as she lifted her hand reluctantly into the air for Draco's help. He sauntered over to her table.  
  
"Yes, Ms. Weasley?" The words seemed to roll almost sarcastically off of his tongue as he said them, causing Ginny to wince a bit.  
  
"I need your help," she swore she heard him mutter 'as usual' under her breath, causing her to resent the fact that se had even bothered to try to get help from him. She explained to him exactly what it was that she needed help with, and she could feel his eyes burn into her every time she wasn't looking directly at him. He made her extremely edgy and uncomfortable. He was so arrogant also, it made her almost sick to be within close vicinity of him.  
  
"Hopefully that got somewhere into your thick skull," he insulted as he walked off and sat back down in his seat. She snapped her drawing pencil in half from anger. Quickly hiding it, she went back on doing her work, hoping that no one had noticed.  
  
  
  
It was around 7:30, and Ginny found it time to head over towards Professor Perry's room. After about ten minutes of listening to Mariesii's constant teasing, she made her way into his classroom.  
  
"Bring your glasses, Malfoy?" sneered Ginny unhappily. She found no need to be nice to him during that particular moment.  
  
"What's wrong with you? Did you catch Cho and Harry in the hall?" he taunted. She threw her book at him, which he caught. "Ooh, someone's got a temper!" he laughed as she took a seat in front of him.  
  
"Let's just get today over with, okay?" she managed to get through her gritted teeth. Draco flashed her a smirk.  
  
"Oh, but I only want to spark some interesting conversation between us!" he mocked, doing his best 'innocent Ginny' impression that he could muster up.  
  
"What's your problem, Malfoy? Do you always have to be such a jerk?" she asked him as she pulled her books out of her bag.  
  
"Well I try," he smirked, as he leaned carelessly back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk. Instinctively, Ginny pulled it out from underneath him, causing him to crash to the floor. She laughed.  
  
"Oops? Did I do that? My bad," she said as she opened her books to the designated chapter. As Draco began to collect himself from the floor, his glasses that he had carelessly left on the table caught her eye. She grabbed at them and put them on.  
  
"Give those back, Ginny," Draco demanded. Ginny looked up at him and smiled while she played with them on her face.  
  
"Oh, come on, don't you think I look just so cute in them? I don't think you even really need them," she added as she made the comparison with and without the glasses on.  
  
"Give them back Ginny," he demanded again, getting closer to her. He snatched them off of her face.  
  
"Gosh, sorry. I was only having some fun," Draco looked deeply insulted. He put his glasses on his face and opened his books up also. "Draco, I.." she started again, but he turned away from her. She walked over to stand in front of him and got down on her knees to be almost level with his face. "Draco. I'm sorry, I didn't think that it would upset you that much," she said, looking into his eyes. She put her hands up to his face to adjust his glasses for him, and then she leaned in and pressed her lips against his. It was short, because she pulled away the second she had done it. Her face turned deep red, and his just broke out into a deep smirk. " I just remembered that there was this thing I needed to go to. Er, right!" she said as she turned and ran from the classroom. Was she completely nuts? She hadn't just done what she thought she had, had she? She continued walking until she made her way into the Gryffindor Common Room where she found Mariesii waiting for her.  
  
"Wow, you're back a lot earlier than I had expected? What happened?" she asked curiously. Ginny began to fidget with her hands behind her back.  
  
"Wow, did you see that the next Quidditch game will be Gryffindor against Ravenclaw?? Wont that be interesting?" Ginny asked as she pulled the flyer down from the wall, trying to divert Mariesii's attention elsewhere.  
  
"Ginny? What aren't you telling me?" Mariesii asked expectantly, tapping her foot at Ginny like a mother does to a disobedient child.  
  
"Don't make me say it, because if I don't say it I might wake up tomorrow and realize that it didn't happen. I'm tired, g'night!" she said, but Mariesii grabbed onto her arm. "Okay, but this had better stick between the two of us. I mean NOBODY better find out," Mariesii made an x with her finger over her heart, "I kissed him," she groaned as she plopped down on the couch.  
  
"You WHAT?" snapped Mariesii. She looked at Ginny in disbelief, as she had done many times before.  
  
"I kissed him. It only lasted like a millisecond, but I did it, and then I ran out of that room and came straight here," she said as she placed her hands in her palms. Mariesii began to laugh, causing Ginny to glare up at her.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I mean this is one of those times where I get to say 'I told you so'!" Mariesii said as she directed Ginny up and into their dorm room. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," she added one last time before the two of them blew out the candles and went to bed. 


	6. Avoiding Draco

Chapter 6 Avoiding Draco  
Ginny was dreading her meeting with Draco that night. She had even tried to talk Professor Perry into telling Draco for her that they couldn't meet, but Professor Perry merely laughed in her face and then exited the room. She could hardly even imagine the vast amount of teasing and torture he'd subdue her to. She felt like she was going to be sick. The thought struck her. If only she could get sick enough to be put into the Hospital Wing. Surely then Professor Perry couldn't force her to submit herself to Draco Malfoy's whim! She searched for her dear friend Mariesii.  
  
"I'm going to need your help," she said without explaining how as she pulled Mariesii off to the library without her consent. She didn't seem to object, however, in fact she seemed quite intrigued by Ginny's sudden rashness.  
  
"And does this new found scheme have anything to do with a certain pale-faced boy?" Mariesii teased, a child-like sing-song tone to her voice. Ginny pinched her.  
  
"Everything I do isn't about Malfoy!" Ginny yelled in a hushed tone. Mariesii gave her a look of disbelief, "Okay, well this time just happens to, but not every time!" she added.  
  
"Right. Okay. What is it that you want me to help with?" Mariesii asked, still throwing Ginny a chuckling look through her eyes.  
"I need you to help me conjure up a potion that will give me a flu in under two hours so that I will have to go to the Hospital Wing and be treated," Ginny ordered rather than told.  
  
"Have you turned mentally retarded?" Mariesii shrieked at Ginny's direction, causing Ginny to cringe a bit.  
  
"No, I am just in dire need of a way to get out of my session. The way I figure it is that Draco gets kissed by girls all the time, maybe after about a week he'll forget all about mine!" Ginny explained her insane theory. Mariesii smiled and shook her head disappointedly.  
  
"The strangest things I do for you, Gin," she laughed as she went over to a shelf and began to look for the potions book that was needed. Ginny gasped suddenly and she ducked behind a pile of books. "What are you doing?" Mariesii asked her friend, becoming more and more concerned with her mental health.  
  
"Shhh! Malfoy just entered the library!" she whispered, trying so hard to be invisible that she even kept her lips from moving. Mariesii dropped the books she was holding and began to laugh giddily causing Ginny to let out a slight groan as she saw that her friend had caught Draco's attention.  
  
"Ms. Gunbower, just the fifth year Gryffindor I was looking for," he greeted her, a smirk sliding onto his face.  
  
"Are you sure about that one?" she muttered under her breath with a glance over at the spot where Ginny was hiding, "What can I do for the likes of you, Malfoy," she said it almost flirtatiously, causing Ginny to get angered. Was she jealous? No, never! Why would she be? She kept her focus intent on   
  
"I've been given the heads up that Ms. Weasley is going to try and back down from our meeting tonight. I'm here to tell you not to help her get out of this one," he said. Was it just her, or had he glanced in Ginny's direction at that moment? She refused to believe it.  
  
"Er, alright! Will do! Bye," Mariesii said, trying to get Draco to leave as soon as possible. After he was gone Ginny came out from her hiding place.  
  
"Don't you even think about backing out on me now!" Ginny threatened as she picked up the book that Mariesii had dropped and flipped to the proper page. Smiling, she tore it from the book and they waked out of the library.  
  
  
  
Her stomach felt like a volcano had just erupted inside. She ran to the bathroom and vomited. Her head had broken out into a sweat. She was burning up, and yet she felt strangely cold. Walking out of the bathroom and into the center of one of Hogwarts many corridors, she fainted.  
  
  
  
"Well, you got what you wanted didn't you?" Mariesii whispered to Ginny as she came to her senses. She had been maneuvered to the Hospital Wing.  
  
"Shoo! Virginia needs her rest, now!" Madame Pomfrey said to Mariesii, and she shooed her out of the room. "Now, now dear. I'm sure whoever did this to you didn't see mean it!" Madame Pomfrey comforted as she handed Ginny a wet washcloth and set it on her forehead. She left Ginny alone in the room. Aside from the ear-splitting headache that she had, and the fact that it felt like she was in a pool of water fifty degrees below zero, she was extremely happy that she had gotten out of the session. She sat up in the bed, despite the fact that the objects in her head began spinning, causing her to become even more nauseous. Madame Pomfrey entered the room again muttering something about "it being to late" and looking extremely irritated.  
  
"You have a visitor. Ms. Weasley," she said. There came the words. The words that Ginny had been dreading, and right after the words had vanished Draco Malfoy came waltzing into the room.  
  
"Professor Perry's orders," he said, smirking at her. She let out her most detestable groan. She should have known that giving herself the flu wouldn't have been enough. Why oh why couldn't she have sent herself into a mild coma?  
  
"I don't have my books, and you might be stuck witnessing some violent vomiting. I'm sure that isn't something you want to witness," Ginny started to explain, trying to scare him into leaving.  
  
"Oh, but Madame Pomfrey just explained to me that she already gave you a potion that stopped your vomiting and made sure you weren't contagious," he smirked. Ginny frowned. "And it just so happens that I brought my books," he said, causing Ginny's heart to leap.  
  
"Okay, so let's study! And I mean study! None of this "polite conversation" stuff, anything that comes out of our mouths should be strictly about Defense Against the Dark Arts!" she ordered, hoping to get by on that as she snatched for one of his books, but he snatched it away.  
  
"It's seems to me that I seem to be making you very uncomfortable. Now, can you think of any reason on why that might true?" Draco asked, a smirk sliding onto his face as he moved in closer to her.  
  
"Just because you kissed me doesn't mean I have anything to be uncomfortable about around you!" lied Ginny as she crossed her arms in front of her. Was it just her, or had it suddenly gotten extremely hot in there?  
  
"As I recall, Ms. Weasley, it was you who kissed me," his smirk burned right through her as she faced the truth; she had been the one to kiss him. Her face turned deep scarlet, but she blamed it on the fever.  
  
"I kissed you, you kissed me? Is there really a difference?" she asked as she snatched for one of his books again to read it. This time he let her take it.  
  
"It is if you're the one who doesn't expect to be kissed," he said, and then he leaned in to kiss her. His lips met hers for another blissful moment, until Ginny felt a rumble in her stomach. She pushed him away suddenly as the vomit came up from her stomach and out of her mouth. Luckily she had time to get a hold of a small trash can and vomit into it. Ginny was deeply embarrassed, her skin turning a deeper shade of red. Draco looked disgusted.  
  
"I told you that you might fall victim to my untamable vomiting fits," she moaned as she laid back in bed. Madame Pomfrey rushed over to Ginny's side and took a look.  
  
"Oh dear, it seems that whoever gave you that flu-potion to drink certainly wanted it to last! You might want to leave Ms. Weasley alone now, Mr. Malfoy. She's in for a long night," Madame Pomfrey instructed as she pulled out another potion to give to Ginny. Sighing, Draco left the room. 


	7. Who Loves Who?

Chapter 7 Who Loves Who?  
  
Ginny was finally released from the Hospital Wing after three whole nights of agonizing torture. She had failed to realize that, while she had mixed the potion right, she had chosen one that didn't have a cure; it was made to last like a Muggle flu. She had to find that out the hard way. Entering the Great Hall, she took her usual seat at the Gryffindor Table next to Mariesii and flashed her eyes over in the Slytherin Table's direction. No sign of Draco.  
  
"So, feeling better are we?" Mariesii teased as she looked in the direction Ginny was facing.  
  
"Huh? Oh, fine, thanks!" Ginny said. Mariesii smiled to herself as she took another bite of her food.  
  
"Ginny! Have you heard?" Lavender practically shrieked as she approached the two. Ginny wasn't paying any attention to her for at that exact moment Draco had entered the Great Hall. Ginny smiled to herself . "Harry and Cho broke up!" Ginny's head jumped to attention. She practically spilled her pumpkin juice.  
  
"What? You are kidding!" She exclaimed. Her heart felt like it had skipped a beat. She had waited to hear these words for a long time.  
  
"Nope! Just thought you'd like to be one of the first to know! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have others to tell!" and she began to make her way down the table, telling other's about it excitedly.  
  
"Oh my god, Mariesii! Did you hear that?" she shrieked as she smiled. She felt like getting up and dancing, or going and laughing in Cho's face.  
  
"Yea, but I don't see the point where either of us should care," Mariesii pointed out with a glance over at the Slytherin Table. Ginny's heart dropped. Draco. She hadn't forgotten about him, she had just became so excited that she didn't remember.  
  
"Oh. Er, right. I've suddenly lost my appetite," Ginny managed to choke out as she got up from the table and exited the room. She felt someone's hands slide over her eyes.  
  
"Guess who?" she frowned. The voice wasn't at all the one that she had expected. She turned around and faced Harry.  
  
"Hiya Harry!" She greeted, hoping that she didn't sound disappointed to see him. He didn't seem to be upset at all, so she shook it off.  
  
"How have you been, Ginny? I heard you were in the Hospital Wing for the weekend," he informed her. You didn't visit me. Only Draco visited me, she thought as she put on a smile.  
  
"Yeah. I had the flu!" she informed him. His hands raised to her shoulders, suddenly making her feel guilty about something.  
  
"That must have been awful, Gin!" he said, and then, with a quick smile, "You're cured though, right?" he leaned in to kiss her. She felt like she should have been happier, or more excited, but she wasn't. She allowed him to kiss her, but the passion that she had once had for him was gone. He seemed to have noticed that something was different also, because he pulled away. "Er, is something wrong?" he asked her. Ginny gasped, guilt fleeing back into her emotions.  
  
"Malfoy!" she spoke as she looked passed Harry and saw Draco standing behind him. Had he been there the whole time?  
  
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, Potty and the Little Weasel, kissing in the Hall. Tsk, Tsk...I'm disappointed in you, Ginny. You seem a lot classier than that," his words tore into her heart. Even worse, she felt them scar her soul. Harry seemed to be equally as confused as he was angry. Ginny bit her lip and looked pleadingly at Draco.  
  
"I- I..." I don't trust myself to speak, she thought. She couldn't think of anything to say that would make this moment less uncomfortable.  
  
"Don't you have anything better to do than spy on us, Malfoy?" Harry confronted him. Draco seemed to be avoiding Ginny's gaze as best he could.  
  
"Now, now, Potter. I wasn't spying on you, I simply needed a word with your newest 'treat' here," he said as he motioned towards Ginny. Harry looked from Ginny to Draco.  
  
"Fine.." was all he said as he turned and left the two of them alone. Ginny wasn't sure whether or not she should feel hurt by his actions. She could feel Draco's eyes on her, but couldn't get up the nerve to look at him. Guilt seemed to be holding her conscience hostage.  
  
"Well, Ms. Weasley, you seem to have received your wish. The company of do-good Potter. He's only going to be using you, you know," Draco said with harsh honesty as he used his finger to cast Ginny's eyes upon his face.  
  
"Draco, I wasn't expecting this. I'm sorry," she pleaded, though she wasn't exactly sure what she was pleading for. Draco's cold smirk appeared on his face.  
  
"You? Sorry for what? It should be I who feels sorry; sorry for ever agreeing to help teach ignorant, Muggle-loving filth like the Weasley runt!" he yelled as he patted her on the shoulder with mock sympathy.Ginny could feel the tears trying to push through her tear ducts, but she tried her hardest to hold them back as she began to walk away. "No, Ms. Weasley, it isn't you who gets the easy walk away while I am forced to watch you go. This time it's going to be the other way around," he said as he pushed her back into the wall a bit forcefully and walked away. The tears flooded her cheeks. She turned and faced the wall. She had just made herself a complete mockery.  
  
"You screwed this one up," she heard a voice from behind her say. She stopped crying and wiped her eyes. Turning around, she watched the back of Jasmine Wolfe walk away from her.  
  
It was Thursday night, a night when Ginny would have to go and see Draco. She hadn't seen him since that rather humiliating day in the corridor, and wasn't looking forward to seeing him later that night. He had insulted her. Part of her wanted to tell her that she deserved it, but the other half knew that she had done nothing wrong. She hadn't run into Harry either, for that matter, though it was she who was avoiding him. He didn't seem to notice, though, considering the fact that ever since he and Cho had broken up girls were hanging all over his every word. She felt that she should be jealous, but something kept her from actually being so.   
  
"You sure you don't want me to go with you?" Mariesii asked her one last time as she got ready to leave the Common Room.  
  
"No. I didn't do anything wrong, but if I parade around not allowing myself to be around him alone he's going to believe that I feel guilty about something," Ginny smiled. Turning swiftly, she began to make her way down one of Hogwarts' many corridors. Turning just around another corner she entered Professor Perry's room and didn't like what she saw. Draco's lips parted from Pansy Parkinson's just to smirk in Ginny's direction.  
  
"Oh, Weasley. You're early..for once," he said coldly. She shrugged it off, "I invited Pansy to come along because she, like you, is rather ignorant when it comes to Defense Against the Dark Arts," he explained. Ginny scoffed. Was Pansy really going to let him talk about her that way? She couldn't believe the nerve Draco had.  
  
"Okay, then let's get this over with, shall we?" Ginny offered as she sat down in front of the two Slytherins who couldn't seem to stop groping each other.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Weasley? What is Ms. Parkinson doing here?" Professor Perry asked as he made his way down into his classroom. Ginny smirked and looked directly into Draco's eyes.  
  
"Why don't you ask Malfoy, here. I'm sure he'd be almost too happy to explain," she smiled her most innocent smile up into Draco's face. Draco glowered at her.  
  
"Pansy was just needing some, er, special help with Defense Against the Dark Arts also, so I offered to have her come and learn with Ginny and I," he answered.  
  
"Well I'm sorry, but she will need to leave. I only gave you permission to help Ginny unattended in my classroom," and without any further arguments Professor Perry left his classroom.  
  
"Aw, gee, sorry Pans, but it seems that you'll be having to leave now," Ginny said, not sounding the least bit sympathetic. Pansy glared at her and, before she turned and left, made sure to plant a big wet one on Draco's lips. "You sure do like to move fast," Ginny said to Draco once they were alone.  
  
"And so do you, Ms. Weasley," Draco said rather harshly. Ginny glowered at him. He had no idea what he was talking about!  
  
"I have no idea what you are implying, Draco, because I haven't done anything wrong!" she yelled, suddenly glad that Pansy had left the room.  
  
"Oh really? So you didn't kiss Potter in the corridors a few days ago?" Draco asked her as he, too, began to yell.  
  
"No, I didn't! He kissed me! I wasn't expecting it at all! And then you came and everything began to get confusing!" she corrected.  
  
"I don't know why it should be confusing! You're just a Weasley! You are only a few feet above filthy mudblood's in my book!" and he stormed out of the room. Ginny pushed one of her books onto the floor. Of all the nerve! She was sick of the petty insults that he kept throwing her. How could she ever have liked scum like him? She stopped. She just admitted that she had liked him, hadn't she? It hadn't even actually donned on her until that moment. No, it was false. She didn't necessarily mean him, she was just talking in general. She sighed. She was getting all riled up over nothing. She'd prove it to herself. Walking back to the Gryffindor Common Room, she waited around for Harry.  
  
"Gin? Ginny...wake up!" she heard someone saying to her. She opened her eyes and looked up into those of Harry's. She smiled, suddenly feeling a strong sense of determination.  
  
"I'm awake, I'm awake!" she laughed as she sat up on the love seat, allowing Harry to sit. How long had she been asleep for? She threw a hand up to her face in an attempt to reassure herself that there was no drool on her face.  
  
"So, what are you doing down here so late?" he asked her as he rested his own face in his palm. She smiled up at him.  
  
"I was waiting for you," she informed him as she moved a bit closer to him. A self-assured smile snook onto his face.  
  
"Oh? And what might that reason be?" He asked her, a mischievous grin breaking out onto his face. Her mind flickered back to a vision of Pansy and Draco kissing so passionately in front of her. She wasn't sure if she did it because of jealous, or out of pure lust, but she leaned and kissed Harry. The more thoughts about Draco and Pansy that flickered into her mind, the harder she pressed her lips into Harry's. At last he pulled away. " I see you've reconsidered my proposition," he laughed.  
  
"So...does this mean..?" she asked, sounding extremely hopeful. Harry looked as if he was deep in thought.  
  
"Erm, it's going to be rather hard to explain this one to Ron, but yes. Ginny, will you be my girlfriend?" Ginny's heart leapt. She had longed to hear those words for six years. She kissed him softly on the lips before heading up to her dorm room. She wasn't at all surprised to find Mariesii wide awake and waiting for her return as she entered the room.  
  
"So?" Mariesii asked her as she noticed the huge smile that was spread across Ginny's face. Ginny took a seat on the end or Mariesii's bed.  
  
"We're going out! He asked me to be his girlfriend!" she squealed with excitement as she all but jumped on top of Mariesii.  
  
"What? You two? Together? I never thought I'd live to see the day . . . Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy," Mariesii almost laughed at the awkwardness the sound of it created. Ginny's smile disappeared.  
  
"Not Draco! Harry! He just asked me out downstairs! Isn't it wonderful?" Ginny sighed dreamily as she laid down on the end of Mariesii's bed. Mariesii frowned.  
  
"But you aren't in love with Harry," she blurted out, causing Ginny to get up off of the bed and go sit on her own.  
  
"Are you mad? I've only been in love with Harry for the past six years!" She confirmed as she got underneath the covers. "I'm tired. Good night," she said and she blew out the candles. 


	8. I've Missed You

Chapter 8 I've Missed You...  
  
Everyone was surprised by Harry's new choice in a companion. Nobody ever thought that they'd see the day when Mr. Harry Potter would show notice to his trusty side-kick's kid sister, but now everyone was clearly proven wrong as they watched the sickeningly happy, new Hogwarts couple walk giddily down the halls together. Ron Weasley himself seemed utterly dismayed by the prospect of his best friend and his little sister becoming a couple and Hermione was constantly grabbing Ron by the collar as he went to strike out at Harry every time he went to give Ginny an innocent kiss. Ginny, however, seemed to be extremely caught up in the moment. She loved the attention she was receiving, not only from everyone in school, but from her long time crush Harry. She was wallowing in the attention of him, not wanting to ever let it go. And then there was Draco, of whom she hadn't spoken to since their confrontation in the hall, which had been only the week before. She wasn't particularly looking forward to the night coming up, either, since it was Thursday and she was coming onto three whole nights of tutoring sessions with Dr-er-Malfoy in Professor Perry's office. Harry didn't seem too happy about it either. Ginny didn't see him as the jealous boyfriend type, however he did seem to become awfully edgy every time she mentioned, even in a laughing matter, of how she was going to go and get taunted more by Mr. Malfoy.  
  
  
  
"Now Gin, you promise me that you'll be fine in the midst of that slimy git Malfoy, okay?" Harry said as he gave her hand an affectionate squeeze, much in the way that Ron had always done for her, causing her to wince a bit.  
  
  
  
"As if you have anything to worry about!" she giggled in an almost culpable tone as she laid an innocent kiss on his cheek.  
  
  
  
"Aw, Gin! Do you two HAVE to do that in public?!" Ron complained loudly, winning himself a glowering look from his own girlfriend, Hermione. Ginny laughed as she looked at Harry's own wrist watch.  
  
  
  
"Oh! I'm going to be late! Professor Perry's going to kill me! Bye guys!" she yelled as she got up from the couch with Harry and began to run out of the Common Room, but Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her into him, giving her one of the most passionate kisses she had ever received by him. She pulled away to give him a quizzical look.  
  
  
  
"Don't do anything that you're going to regret," was all that he said as he let go of her, causing her to become even more infuriatingly curious as she was before, but she left without another word and ran towards Professor Perry's room. She entered it curiously as she noticed that nobody was in the room yet, not even a sign of Professor Perry himself. She seated herself at a desk and began to open one of her books to read when she was startled by a bout of clapping entering the room. Looking up she noticed that it was Professor Perry entering his room.  
  
  
  
"My, my. Ms. Weasley on time? Here before Mr. Malfoy? Since when have you become a punctual one?" he asked her. The tone he was using reminded her remarkably of Draco's causing her to smile. No! Wait. He didn't make her smile. She hit her head against the desk, winning herself a look of concern from Professor Perry.  
  
  
  
"Er. Sorry, I'm just soo....tired lately...must have begun to doze of!" she lied unconvincingly as she watched Draco enter the room. She tried her best to avoid direct eye contact by staring admiringly at Professor Perry.  
  
  
  
"Get to work, Ms. Weasley! Mr. Malfoy is here!" Professor Perry said in a hurried tone as he exited the room in a bit of a hurry. Draco scoffed at Ginny's attempt of trying to actually seduce their teacher into staying and watching them with just a look.  
  
  
  
"Is the filthy little Muggle lover that desperate to be rid of me?" He asked her tauntingly. She threw him her most detestable glare that she owned, causing him to smirk.   
  
  
  
"I need help with Chapter eight.." was all that she managed to choke out through her gritted teeth as she opened her own Defense Against the Dark Arts book.  
  
  
  
"Only chapter eight? What happened to the first seven chapters before that? Did the Little Weasel actually teach herself something for a change?" He didn't seem at all surprised when Ginny launched a book in his direction. "Touchy, touchy," He glared as he sat down in front of her and opened his own book to help her. The only thing he seemed to be succeeding with, however, was helping Ginny to become more and more flustered with the book.  
  
  
  
"I Don't understand it, I don't WANT to understand it, and I CAN'T understand it!" she yelled as she stood up from her desk and pulled at her hair. Draco seemed to be finding the sight of Ginny being so close to a nervous break-down amusing.  
  
  
  
"That, Weasley, was apparent from the time I was forced into tutoring you," Draco drawled on casually as he yawned and leaned back in his chair.  
  
  
  
"Tutoring me? It was under my impression that we hadn't done much 'tutoring'," she informed him as she plopped down back in front of him.  
  
  
  
"Of course we hadn't, and do you know whos fault that is? I distinctly remember a certain Ms. Weasley running out from cowardice on our first tutoring session, and then giving herself a common Muggle Flu for the next two just so she didn't have to go to them!" He yelled, allowing his anger to get the best of him.  
  
  
  
"AND THE REASON I DID THAT WAS BECAUSE I FOUND FEELINGS FOR YOU THAT I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD AND WAS SCARED THAT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE THEM BA-" she started blinded, then realized that she had allowed that dreaded Weasley temper and daftness to get the best of her. "Right, again I have just realized that there was this thing and this stuff that I had to get to and change before I failed Hogwarts," she said lamely, realizing it made no sense as she turned away and began to stalk towards the door.  
  
  
  
"Do you always do that, Weasel?" He asked her as he, too, stood up from his chair rather haughtily.  
  
  
  
"Always do what?" she asked him, the anger becoming more and more apparent in her voice.  
  
  
  
"Always run away when you do something incredibly idiotic?" he asked her as he allowed his devilishly sexy smirk slide onto his face in a rather intoxicating way.  
  
  
  
"Idiotic? I'll give you idiotic," she said as she approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her eyes smiling up into his. She pushed herself up on her tip-toes to kiss him when..  
  
  
  
"I TOLD you it wouldn't work! Alright, get your FILTHY hands off of her, Malfoy, or I'll hex you into next millennium!" Ginny groaned as the all-too-familiar voice of her older brother, Ron, came into her earshot. His face was flushed with anger and his wand was pointed straight out in front of him. Barging in directly after him came Hermione and Harry, trying to pull him back.  
  
  
  
"Ron you don't know what you are doing," and "this is absurd!" were the kinds of things that seemed to be escaping the two best friends' mouths. Ginny, feeling very unfaithful at that moment, hastily removed her arms from around Draco's neck, but didn't push his hand off of her waist.  
  
  
  
"YOU-HEARD-WHAT-I-SAID-NOW-DO-IT!" Ron bellowed again as he pushed his wand out farther in front of him, but Ginny stood directly in front of Draco.  
  
  
  
"Accio wand!" Hermione called and she watched as Ron's wand went flying from his own hand into Hermione's. Ginny's face began to turn a deep shade of violet as she realized how bad the situation that she had just been caught in was.  
  
  
  
"Erm, guys I can explain..." started Ginny, but Hermione cleared her throat and took a step forward from her friends as Harry managed to keep the squirming Ron contained.  
  
  
  
"Let me guess, you kissed Malfoy in the Hospital Wing, and feel some sort of uncontrollable attraction to him, right?" Hermione said matter-of-factly causing Ginny's jaw to drop.  
  
  
  
"Have you been spying on me?" she asked suddenly, a wave of understanding glistened over her now cluttered brain.  
  
  
  
"Oh Gin, we're sorry. We had to! We had to save you from that monstrosity!" Hermione began as she pointed at Draco.  
  
  
  
"I, I don't get it," she looked at Harry who quickly looked away. A light switch seemed to turn on in her mind, "You tricked me. Tricked me into believing that I..." she fought back the tears as she leaned into Draco, who only seemed to take a step back.  
  
  
  
"Ginny, we were protecting you! We felt that the only way we could get you away from that git Malfoy (he said this as if Draco wasn't standing right there) is if you could have the chance with the person of whom you've been lovestruck for years!" Ron said in his big brother tone of voice.  
  
  
  
"PROTECTING ME? FROM WHAT? From something that could have been TRUE and throwing me into something completely and utterly false?! I'll Kiss whoever I want and I'll hate whoever I want, and there's nothing you can do about it! And you have nothing to worry about with Draco anyway because the bottom line is WE HATE EACH OTHER! But Right now I can say that in my eyes you guys have ALL sunk FAR below his level!" She screamed and she stormed out of the classroom, leaving behind four stunned seventh years.   
  
  
  
Her head began to ache from all of the anger that was filling up inside of her. It emitted a red glow over her eyes, dimming her ability to see exactly where she was going.  
  
'Miss me, Virginia?'  
  
Ginny stopped abruptly and looked around for a sight of anyone who could be talking to her. She refused to let it be that familiar voice that had only haunted her in her dreams, and that she had feared would come back some day. She felt like screaming, but didn't want to call any attention to herself. She sighed and shook her head.  
  
  
  
"Wake up, Ginny. WAKE UP!" she yelled at herself as she ran harder down the halls and up into the Gryffindor Tower. She hopped into bed and didn't say one word to answer Mariesii's many questions as she closed her eyes and tried to force herself to fall asleep.  
  
'This will be fun, I promise...You have no idea how much I've missed you...'   
  
She buried her head under her pillow in hopes of banishing the familiar, high-pitched cackle that belonged to none other than Tom Marvolo Riddle. 


	9. Controlled

Chapter 9 Controlled   
  
Ginny had suddenly disappeared off of the ranks of the social ladder as she had taken her friendship away from Harry and Hermione and disowned Ron as her brother. She had been completely reckless of Mariesii's feelings and told her to 'sod off', but couldn't allow the blame to reside on herself. The voice had left her since that night, but she hadn't been able to sleep because her dreams were filled with Chamber of Secrets reenactions that she couldn't bare to face. The worst part about all of this was that she had gone back to being the little, unnoticed Weasley that she had always been. She had fought back the tears that she knew had been biting at the entrance of her tear ducts, trying to force her to give way. She knew it had to be Tom doing this, he was trying to hurt her. Trying to make her vulnerable as she had promised that she would never again be since that awful day that she was forced against her will (more or less) to enter the Chamber of Secrets. Not only did Ginny feel like crap, but she looked it also. She looked like she hadn't slept in months, with dark circles appearing under her newly bloodshot eyes, and her hair was in desperate need of a good taming spell.  
  
  
  
"Ms. Weasley! Wake up this instant!" Professor Perry scolded, "Five points from Gryffindor for this rather sleep deprived Weasley. May I suggest getting a full night's sleep tonight?" he tormented, causing Ginny to jump awake.   
  
  
  
"Yes Professor, sorry," she managed to yawn out. She caught Draco's eye. He smirked at her, hoping to make her feel uncomfortable, and yet she could still sense the concern seeping from his pores. She chose to ignore it by flashing him her most devious glare and turning back to her rather poorly drawn doodle of the back of Colin Creevey's head. She crumpled it up and looked at it in her hand.  
  
  
  
'Have you really allowed your art to slack off that much, Virginia?'   
  
She jumped and looked around her again, hoping that nobody had noticed. She tried her best to ignore the voice that she, and only she, seemed to be able to hear.  
  
'Ouch, that really hurts. Ignoring me, are you? Don't you get it, Virginia? I control you!'  
  
Ginny's hand suddenly contorted itself up into a pitching position and she unwillingly tossed the paper at the back of Professor Perry's head. The students in the class contorted with laughter, well all except for Ginny who stood out like a thorn on a rose.   
  
  
  
"Well, Ms. Weasley. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about that one," Professor Perry asked as the class turned and faced her, causing her face to turn deep shade of fuchsia.   
  
  
  
"Erm...Peeves threw it?" She lied. She bit her lower lip, hoping that he would accept that as a proper excuse.  
  
  
  
"Nice try, Ms. Weasley, but looks like you've just earned yourself a detention. You will need to stay behind so that I may tell you when you will serve this detention," he said. She was sure he was just doing it to make her feel even more humiliated than she did. She put on a fake smile as he turned back to his lesson.  
  
'Now, wasn't that exciting? Don't you just enjoy our little walk on the wild side?'  
  
She began to tap her foot against the hard stone floor, hoping to drown out the sound of his voice. It was sure to prove unsuccessful.  
  
  
  
"Our walk on the wild side? If I'm correct it was you who forced me to throw that at him," she whispered through gritted teeth. She kept her mouth contorted into an awkward smile and didn't move her lips as she spoke, hoping to keep attention away from herself.  
  
'Oh, but you loved it. You love the power that pulses through your veins when I'm here..inside you..' She could feel him smiling inside of her, even though she couldn't see it.  
  
"You....are...WRONG!" she yelled, causing attention to be drawn her way once again, and causing Professor Perry another annoyance.  
  
  
  
"Ms. Weasley, you disrupt this class one more time and I assure you that you will be on the next train out of Hogwarts!" he threatened, causing the class to laugh at her once again. She heard Tom Riddle's malicious laugh swirl around in her brain, and squeezed her forehead in hopes of forcing it out or smashing in her skull so that it would go away.  
  
  
  
"Professor Perry, may I please speak with Ms. Weasley outside, regarding this rather poorly done assignment you just had me correct of hers?" lied Draco as he walked over to Ginny's side. She scowled as se heard the class break once more into a nasty bout of sniggers. Professor Perry looked back and forth between the two with something of amusement glistening in his eyes.  
  
  
  
"Alright, but do hurry back so I can discuss with Ms. Weasley her detention," he answered. Ginny looked up at Draco stupidly, refusing to move. He grabbed her by the arm and maneuvered her easily out of the room without a protest or fight.  
  
'My, this is interesting...' she heard Tom cackle in her ear as Draco pulled her out of the room.  
  
  
  
"SHUT UP" she yelled, earning herself another worried stare from Draco as he let her go and looked questioningly at her.  
  
  
  
"Ginny, what is the matter with you?" he asked her, though he sounded more angry than concerned. She glared at him.  
  
'Yes, Virginia, what IS the matter with you?' She could almost feel his breath against her neck as Tom said that to her.  
  
"Go away, go away, go away, GO AWAY!" she screamed as she threw herself against the wall and sat on the floor, curling up in a ball.  
  
  
  
"You're insane, Weasel," Draco scoffed angrily as he watched the poor, pathetic looking Ginny beating herself up and having conversations with herself.  
  
  
  
"Shut up, Malfoy, or I'll use every inch of energy that's left in my body to hurt you!" she threatened as she stood back up and glared murderously at him.  
  
  
  
'Surprise, surprise! Virginia's won herself a backbone..'  
  
"If I could hit you.." was all that Ginny let out of her mouth as she spoke violently to Tom Riddle for the first time. Draco took a step back, seeming to think that she was talking to her.  
  
'Hit me? Hit me? Never...but, if you really want to be hitting somebody, I can help with that,' he promised rather sardonically, making Ginny realize the sudden mistake she had just make. She looked up at Draco, shocked.  
  
"Run," was all that she could say, but her words seemed to fall on daft ears. She felt her body lunge itself at Draco, her fists pounded against his body. She had a newfound strength she didn't know she possessed, but she seemed to like it. She pounded and pounded and pounded, not becoming aware that she had begun to do this without Tom Riddle's help.  
  
  
  
"Oh my god! Professor Perry! Something's wrong with Ginny!" The class had been dismissed. Students had made their way into the hall and caught sight of Ginny attacking Draco. She turned to look at them, her eyes bloodshot.   
  
  
  
"I-I-I . . . GO AWAY!" She yelled, her voice sounding raspy, as Tom's high-pitched squeal rang in her ears. She clamped her hands over her ears and applied pressure as she screamed.  
  
"We-we just heard!" Hermione said as she, Ron, and Harry ran to Draco's side who now lay in one of the bed's in the Hospital Wing. It was the first time in his life that he was there for an actual reason, and not just because he felt like bringing attention to himself. That bloody Weasley had beaten him to a bloody pulp! He spat up more blood into the cup that Madame Pomfrey had left by his side just for that cause.  
  
  
  
"Come to gloat, have you?" he replied sardonically as he tried to grab at his sides, only to cause himself more pain.  
  
  
  
"You-you're telling me that Ginny di-did THIS to you?" Ron managed to mutter out in utter disbelief.  
  
  
  
"Feisty little bit, isn't she?" Draco's laugh quickly turned into a hacking cough as he forced the words to roll out of his mouth in the most Malfoy way possible.  
  
  
  
"But.....Why?" The three of them asked him at the same time. He sat himself up in his bed and stared at them, as if wondering if he should trust them with the information he had or not. "I have no idea why! She interrupts Professor Perry's class, throws a paper at him, I take her out of the classroom, HOPING to relieve some of her embarrassement where she continues to threaten –SOMEONE– and then –BAM– she jumps at me!" He explained, wincing every time he yelled.  
  
  
  
"S-so, you're saying she attacked you for no reason at all?" Harry asked with disbelief. Draco clapped his hands.  
  
  
  
"Gee, what a smart one you are, Potter! All I know is that she was talking to someone who I couldn't see, she looked at me and said 'run' and then attacked me!" he coughed.  
  
  
  
"I'm finding this rather hard to believe. What did you do to her you slimy . . . " started Ron, but Hermione put er hand over his mouth and stared at him disapprovingly.  
  
  
  
"Ron Weasley! Of all the nerve!" she shouted disdainfully as she made her way towards Draco's side."Do you have even the slightest idea of who she might have been talking with?" she asked him in a sickeningly sweet tone.  
  
  
  
"I haven't a bloody clue! That woman's gone stark mad, she has!" He complained as he ran a hand through his hair.  
  
  
  
"OUT! OUT!" shouted Madame Pomfrey as she entered to tend to Draco once again. The famous trio left Draco's side to search for the youngest Weasley. 


	10. Trouble On Our Hands

Chapter 10 Trouble On Our Hands  
  
"I don't trust that git! I don't trust him one bit!" Ron was muttering over and over as if Hermione and Harry didn't seem to understand the foreign tongue he was speaking in.  
  
  
  
"Ron, we don't have a choice! He didn't seem to be lying, anyway!" Hermione pointed out as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.  
  
  
  
"I donno, Hermione. Ron DOES seem to have a point," Harry pointed out, causing Hermione to let her air out in frustration.  
  
  
  
"Honestly you boys! Just because you hate Malfoy doesn't mean you have to disagree with every little point he makes!" She said, half-exasperated. Harry and Ron looked to each other.  
  
  
  
"It does," they both said at the same time as they took seats on the couch. Hermione muttered something that sounded oddly like "boys will be boys" under her breath and took a seat next to Ron on the couch.  
  
  
  
"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger; will you three please come with me?" Professor McGonagall asked suddenly as she entered the Gryffindor Common Room. Shocked, the three of them obliged. They followed suit, not making a sound, up into Professor Dumbledore's office. They didn't even let out their giggles at his rather unusual password.  
  
  
  
"Er, is something wrong Professor?" Harry was the first to break the silence. Professor McGonagall almost winced at the sound of his voice.  
  
  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid something is terribly wrong," spoke Professor Dumbledore said as he emerged from the dark shadows of his office, causing all three students to jump. Ron already seemed to know where this was going, because he had already reached to his pocket for his wand. "Mr. Weasley, I assure you that you will not be needing that," Dumbledore said as his eyes flickered down at the wand in Ron's hand.  
  
  
  
"Er, right Professor," he said as he slipped his wand back into his pocket. He couldn't help it; it was a reflexive impulse.  
  
  
  
"Do you mind telling us why we are here, Professor?" Hermione asked politely as she looked up at both Dumbledore and McGonagall.  
  
  
  
"Ginny's...having...Problems..." Professor McGonagall managed to choke out, only causing more confusion in the trio's minds. "What I mean by that is that...she.."  
  
  
  
"She has been hearing the voice of Tom Riddle again. He is taking control of her, having never actually disappeared from the depths of her mind," Dumbledore explained.  
  
  
  
"But...then...wh-where is she?" Harry and Ron asked him at the same time, while Hermione just allowed her hand to clasp against her mouth.  
  
  
  
"We have her secluded up in the Gryffindor Prefects' Tower," Professor Dumbledore answered. Hermione fainted.  
  
'They think you are secluded do they...' she heard him ask her as he replayed the scene to her in her mind. Ginny began to knock on the walls, trying to find a way out.  
  
  
  
"I don't hear you . . . Y-you are just a pretty bird . . . fly-fly away!" She began to guffaw hideously as she sat on the ground and began rocking back and forth.   
  
'They don't need you....I need you....You need me...' he lied to her, so many lies.  
  
  
  
"No I don't! I don't need you! I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I DON'T!" she screamed. The wall to the right of her exploded...revealing a way for her to escape.   
  
"Albus! She-She's gone! She's escaped! Ginny's GONE!" Professor McGongall informed him.  
  
  
  
"MY-my, we seem to have trouble on our hands..." Dumbledore announced as he walked away from the shocked Professor McGonagall.  
  
"WHAT?" The four of them yelled together. They all seemed taken aback by what Dumbledore was now explaining to them.   
  
  
  
"So you're telling me that Gin-Ginny Weasley has become dangerous? That's the most absurd thing I've heard yet!" Draco yelled.  
  
  
  
"Watch it, Malfoy. Maybe she'll be back to finish her work on you!" Ron threatened as he threw his glares in Draco's direction. Hermione and Harry chose to sit out of this one.  
  
  
  
"Boys, this is no laughing matter!" silenced Professor Dumbledore. "Ginny is in trouble, she needs your help.." he informed them. The four looked around at each other.  
  
  
  
"Where's she at?" they asked in unison.  
  
  
  
"You're sure this is necessary?" Ginny asked as she began to sip the potion that Tom had told her how to make.  
  
'Absolutely necessary....That is if you want power beyond your wildest dreams..' the thought intrigued her...her eyes glazed over. She finished her potion quickly.   
  
'Now wasn't that good?' He cackled, she popped her neck in a grotesque way.   
  
"Ginny we know you are in there..." She heard Harry call. Ginny hissed, she could sense the four seventh year students standing on the other side of the blockaded door.  
  
  
  
"Naughty, Naughty, you've been caughty!" Peeves teased suddenly as he appeared in the room. Ginny looked up to him, eyes glaring red, and hissed. He left the room in an instant.  
  
'Virginia...where have your manners gone? Let the poor people in...Show them your new powers..' Tom ordered. Ginny's face broke out into a horrific grin.  
  
"Come on in, guys... I've been expecting you..." 


End file.
